Prepared bandages of various kinds are available in strip, piece or roll form. Generally, most prepared bandages consist of a strip having an adhesive surface and a gauze portion disposed in the center of the strip facing the adhesive surface. In use, the adhesive surface of the strip adheres the bandage to the skin while the gauze portion covers and protects the wound.
Many drawbacks are associated with the aforediscussed conventional prior art prepared bandages. In such prior art bandages, the central gauze portion generally comes into direct contact with the wound, thereby creating an environment wherein a scab forming on the wound often grows into or otherwise becomes attached to the gauze portion of the bandage. During removal of such prior art bandages, or when the bandages are bumped or jostled, the scab is often damaged causing a deleterious and healing-inhibiting effect upon the wound. Moreover, such prior bandages fail to provide adequate ventilation for the wound being dressed since, typically, the gauze portion of such bandages so closely overlies the wound or is adhered to it by reason of the aforementioned problem of a scab attachment to the gauze portion, that ventilation of the wound is impossible. Since a properly ventilated wound heals much faster than a nonventilated wound, the healing process of wounds dressed with such prior art bandages is greatly delayed.
Some prior art bandages have been developed in an attempt to meet some of the aforediscussed problems. U.S. Pat. No. 2,785,677 to Stumpf discloses two bandages which have, respectively, an arced member and a dome-shaped member centrally located on the adhesive portion of the bandages. The two bandages provide, respectively, a transverse arc and a dome for protection of the wound from being bumped or otherwise irritated. However, the arced shaped member of the Stumpf bandage does not substantially prevent contaminants from passing into the wound. With respect to the dome-shaped member, since when applied it entirely encloses the wound, the dome-shaped embodiment does not provide adequate ventilation to the wound. Further, the dome-shaped embodiment of Stumpf has a circular base which encloses a less than maximum surface area of the skin, thereby providing a wound with less than adequate protection. Moreover, both the arc and dome shaped members of the Stumpf bandages have sloping edges which angle upward toward the center of the portion above the wound. As such, the edges near the base of these center portions above the wound come into close and nearly overlying contact with the wound being dressed, thus presenting the aforementioned problems of having the forming scab of the wound attach to the bandage covering the wound.